Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories

by Frank Mundo

An LA rent-a-cop on the graveyard shift, JT Glass is a rude and arrogant troll. You know the type: bitter, shallow, offensive, judgmental — not to mention sexist to the core — and proud of it. He’s a miserable human being with a razor-sharp tongue and an uncanny knack for finding trouble.

In this collection of 12 connected short stories — all published in magazines and journals over the last 15 years — we explore some of the many life challenges, setbacks, and moral dilemmas that helped make JT who he is today: a broken and pathetic soul with, perhaps — deep deep down inside — a lot of potential for good.

This special edition also includes the first chapter of The Brubury Tales, where the story of J.T. Glass continues in this adaptation of Chaucer's classic Canterbury Tales set in Los Angeles just after the 1992 riots.

*Stories contain violence, adult language, and adult situations, including rape, that may trigger certain readers. JT Glass is a fictional character whose opinions and social stances are part of his fictional character and, like murderers or evil wizards in other tales, do not reflect the author’s opinions or thoughts. These are fictional stories, not essays.



Review: "4-stars: Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories is an entertaining romp, full of irreverent humor that leaves you wanting more...chronicling the life and times of J.T. Glass, a security guard armed with a sharp tongue, keen wit and vivid imagination...each story in this collection can stand on its own, but read together, the book feels more like a novel told out of chronological order, or like a puzzle that engages you, the reader, to assemble and experience the transformation from boy to man. The dialogue is crisp, the nuances are rich, most of the stories move at a fast clip, and you’ll be laughing or crying most of the journey.


Mundo knows how to delight and surprise, no holds barred. He has an excellent command of story, and the courage to go dark. Upon discovering some horrible truths about his deceased roommate, J.T. wrestles beautifully with his conscience in “A Friend In Need.” “Remorse” dares to walk that tightrope, balancing comedy and tragedy. The witty banter and innuendo in “A Conversation Piece” sets the tone of for the wild and crazy times defining J.T.’s life." -- Indiereader (12-31-2013)


"Well worth a read...A sharply observed take on the human condition, it's full of off-beat humour, life lessons and moral dilemmas." Named a "Favourite Read for April 2012" - multi-story dot co dot uk

ebook

First published December 28, 2013

About the author

Frank Mundo is a poet and writer from Los Angeles, and author of five books, including The Brubury Tales, a modern version of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales set in Los Angeles, written entirely in rhyming verse.

Frank's latest poetry chapbook Eleven Sundry Flowers was released by Antrim House Books on July 12, 2021. His first poetry chapbook, Touched by an Anglo, was released by Kattywompus Press on July 19, 2017.



Praise for The Brubury Tales:

Winner of the Poet Laureate Award Nomination from UCLA and CAL

Winner of Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award for Poetry Book of the Year

Winner of the Bookhitch Award for the Most Innovative Poetry Book of Year


Reviews

"The Brubury Tales [by Frank Mundo] is a landmark book, in what is going to be -- and already is -- an exceptional, distinguished literary career." — Bestselling author Carolyn See, from the Washington Post.

"5 Stars: Mundo's skill is astounding and has a natural cadence. These stories are intriguing and compellingly human, and soon enough the reading becomes listening." --Sacramento Book Review

"5 Stars: With inspiration from many literary classics and plenty of original spin, The Brubury Tales is a fine collection and not one to be missed." --Midwest Book Review

"5 Stars: The Brubury Tales is a brilliant blend of writing, combining the style of Chaucer while putting a new slant on the short stories of the classical writers. --Reader Views

A unique and powerful new book,The Brubury Tales draws upon Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and classic stories by Mark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, and Charles Dickens, to name a few. Frank Mundo takes risks with his writing, which is sensitive, thoughtful, and gritty. -- LA Books Examiner

"The Brubury Tales by Frank Mundo is a bold homage to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. Mundo defamiliarizes the tale by placing itin Los Angeles in 1992 shortly after the Riots. Seven security guards on thegrave-yard shift swap stories in verse... 232 pages of words, Mundo attributes his 14 years of working as a security guard on the grave-yard shift for his ability to complete long writing projects. His authentic L.A. childhood experiences came out in his verse..." -- Mike Sonksen for KCET.org.

"The Brubury Tales follows in the footsteps of Chaucer and Boccaccio in that it borrows stories from previous authors... while the poetry is impressive... what is more appealing than the tales is the interplay among the guards themselves... Fans of classic literature may appreciate this and will no doubt enjoy picking out their favorite tales told in verse. The Brubury Tales is an ambitious undertaking, one which is mostly successful as an exercise in literary imitation." -- Kirkus Indie

Reviews

[Romila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading this book is an emotional adventure, and exciting when situations in the book are so shocking and so varied. GARY, THE FOUR-EYED FAIRY AND OTHER STORIES is an entertaining journey of interconnecting short stories of an L.A. security guard J.T. Glass who has a sharp tongue, sharp humour and very weird imagination. Though the theme of the book is short stories and each story has its own essence giving you a feel of reading a novel. It more like a mystery which binds and take you on a ride of J. T.'s life steps and situations he goes through. The innocence he faces in childhood, the confusion in his teen age, the dilemma he faces in adulthood has been written beautifully in humour without degrading the emotional values. The author’s language is easy to understand and very nice and beautiful. The selection of words is excellent which helps the reader to maintain the reading speed of the book and it is not easily possible to tell that this book is combination of many stories.

[Donna Frances · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short stories are a firm favourite of mine therefore I consumed this book very quickly.
Alongside a packet of biscuits.
The story ‘Remorse’ made an impression on me.
‘Remorse’ was a tale of a security guard being wrongly accused of rape, I found the story interesting in that a lot of the points were valid, I agreed with them. Both a man & a woman have consensual sex but the woman due to her embarrassment & wish to save her reputation falsely accuses the man of rape stating that although it was consensual she was in no fit state to choose whether or not to have sex. J.T. rightly pointed out that she did choose to consume that much alcohol & the man should not be held responsible for both parties. J.T.’s grandmother asks him with his assistance in her death in this story, she is a well read woman & I take from this story a phrase from her that rings true-‘Faith is a shirt we wear on Sundays’.
‘Gary The 4 Eyed Fairy’-As in the title of the book was another well crafted story. Gary is one of the unfortunates that receives attention in high school for the wrong reasons, socially outcast he tires of intimidation & tells ‘Evil’ & his gang which J.T is part of that they are nothing. People are not on the habit of standing up to the bullies. This draws more attention to Gary.
Several fist fights ensue, blood is shed, pride is wounded, Gary is relentless like a coiled spring & will not be intimidated will not be isolated will stand up for his rights as a human being. Except he isn’t one, not to Evil & his gang-He’s the 4 Eyed fairy.
I liked this story as it shows that beneath the surface these things affect you, pick at you like a tiny little man chipping away at your brain with a miniature axe until one day when you get older your spring finally uncoils & you snap.
‘Tired Of Her’-is a story when you someone in everything that you look at. You smell them everywhere in your home. Every object every whisper every creak of a floor board & you’re thinking of them. Again. And it’s exhausting. J.T. climbs into the bath to cocoon himself from his thoughts, from her, he puts his head under the water, even though he’s submersed in water he feels like he can finally breathe & be free of the weight of her in his head.
There are 12 short stories in all in this book & a wonderful poem at the end. I loved how descriptive the characters were, how a little girl was described as smelling of bologna, I really enjoyed reading this & liked that the character J.T. was present throughout. The author himself is an interesting fellow originally working the grave yard shift as a security guard allowing him time to feed his mind & nurture his talent by writing.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

trust me i read very less but this book is really amazing.i loved the way the author sequeled the stories. every story has humor. fun with dialogue more importantly you feel the situation. everyone in his life must have faced one or another situation that J.T faced.i am sure you will get to know a lot of things as well.

[Shrabastee Chakraborty · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories" by Frank Mundo is a collection of twelve short stories featuring multiple occurrences in the life of J.T. Glass, a security personnel working the night shift.
A short and fast-paced read, the stories are from different time periods of J.T.’s life and do not maintain chronological order. The first noticeable aspect is the easy humor with which each story is laced. The beauty of Mundo’s storytelling is that it maintains a deadpan, straight-faced approach while delivering a laughing-out-loud incident. Sometimes, the reader is left in a dilemma whether to feel indignant or amused at the ridiculousness of it all.
As is often the case, the peals of laughter sometimes disguise a bleak reality. Mundo shows the less rosy sides of life with equal ease and using the same matter-of-fact tone. Somewhere along the line, comedy and tragedy intertwine to form a multifaceted collage that is life. Each little story leaves a profound impact on our mind.
Considering the subject matter of the book, I would specifically recommend an adult audience. If you are able to accept life as it comes, you will appreciate J.T.’s honest accounts. If you are not, well, it is never too late to learn.

[B · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a fun little collection of stories. They are seemingly random, but all interconnected based on the main character J.T.

It was a fun short read. Some of the stories had a bit of humor about them and some were a little on the strange side. It never got monotonous or boring. The stories were told in a unique voice with a side of sarcasm.

[Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This collection of short stories revolve around a particular character, J.T Glass who works as a security guard at various establishments. The stories are snippets of his life, from his childhood and relationships with his family, to his escapades at work.

I thoroughly enjoyed this collection. Mundo really captures Glass' voice, who is our narrator for the majority of the stories, and it never falters. It is very dry, occasionally black humour laced with moments of reflection. As a result, Glass comes across as a very well-fleshed out character. He is relatable even in the most bizarre of scenarios, and you cannot help but laugh at some of the predicaments he finds himself in.

The idea of telling this story in fragments was also cleverly done. As a reader you are left to fill in the blanks and come up with your own ideas about what happens to these characters next. This narrative also reflects real life experiences. We only see people in snippets of their lives, and you may not be privy to the events or people that shape them. So it was interesting to witness these various fragments which make up a whole life and see how these affect Glass.

In particular my favourite stories revolved around Glass and his siblings. Mundo does an excellent job of portraying their relationship, and the banter between them felt very realistic. I found reading those stories very nostalgic, and couldn't help but remember the ridiculous things my brother and I got up to when we were younger. Those moments were very evocative and I was moved by them. Everytime I started a new story and realised it was about his childhood I got really excited.

Overall this is a collection well worth checking out if you're a big fan of short stories. They are very witty and I found myself giggling away at points. The characterisation of Glass is also incredibly well-done and the writing is very vibrant and engaging. If you're needing a bit of a pick-me-up then this might be the book for you.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love short stories because it is a challenge to give a life and personality to the characters, set the world they live in, and try to develop the short story in ways that captivates the readers. Frank Mundo meet that challenge and kept me enthralled throughout the book. Each story is different and unique, and I loved the variation of how the world is viewed as a child and as a grown man. I would recommend this book to everyone who also enjoys short stories as much as me.

[Lesley Agams · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories by Frank Mundo


In March I received Frank Mundo’s ‘Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories’ through Booktasters to read in return for a review. Nigeria and most of the world had just gone into lock down and I thought it would keep me company.

I couldn’t focus. I couldn’t concentrate. I couldn’t read, I couldn’t write, I could barely get out of bed and take a shower in the morning. Some days I didn’t. And I put the book aside. But I must now write this review. Which meant I had to finish reading it. It occurred to me that I could write a review without reading it but what would I write?

I remember being triggered by Mundo’s story titled ‘Remorse.’ I don’t know if Peter is a real or a fictional character but I was triggered by the ‘rape apology.’ The reasons given for why Peter could never commit rape. Exact same words have been cynically used to justify rape for …ever? Make I pause too.

Where do we draw the line between consensual sex and rape? And who gets to decide?

The story didn’t quiet seem factual to me. There are very few women that actually make false accusations of rape. Some, as the cynical accuser in ‘Remorse’ proves, do. A very very small minority, so small as a matter of fact that I have to pull up the statistics and add them to this review. (Between 2% and 6% depending on geography) Or at least see if there have been other feminist critiques of the story. (I found none.)

I’m glad I read the story again in a different state of mind. Now I feel his remarks about women taking responsibility for their actions while under the influence dismisses those that do. Some of us took alcohol and other mood altering substances to overcome our sexual inhibitions. I almost apologised for the girl he refuses to give a name and simply calls Fat Ass throughout the story. She is not typical. If she actually exists because I do not know anyone like that. Or do I?

What I found profound about the story was the moral dilemma that this grandmother presented.

In ‘Remorse’ Mundo juxtapositions suicide and euthanasia in a way that makes you think about them without preachiness. I’m still uncovering layers in that one. A young man kills himself, an old woman is too scared to and asks her grandson to do it. An old dog gets the mercy of a quick death but not an old woman. The grandmother is by far the most interesting female character in the collection with a rich literary life.

‘Hell To Pay’, ‘Family Effort’ ‘A Day At the Beach’ and ‘Bread and Pottage’ made me glad I did not grow up with my siblings. ‘Balance’ and ‘The Skinny’ were both tender and touching. ‘Balance' gets 5 stars, it is told so well, so beautifully, I forgave him all the tension of ‘Remorse.’ And ‘Tired of Her’ made me tired of her, whoever her is. His naming some women and not others was interesting too.

Mundo’s power of observation and attention to detail is striking, his metaphors are elegant and refreshing and his language is almost terse. JT sounds like a psycho sometimes but I enjoyed that, he is just weird enough to be believable and not to much to be threatening. The right amount of ‘bad boy’ which is what I guess Mundo is alluding to in ‘Strong Independent Woman’ when he writes about the ‘lies women tell themselves about what they want from a man when the really want the opposite.’

‘A Friend in Need’ is riveting. It emerges in captivating and morbid layers. The entire collection is slightly dark and edgy. It offers a glimpse into another world. Mundo is a true wordsmith. He well deserves the praise heaped on this collection of stories. I want to read more of him.